No strings attached: Using 2-D paper dolls and 3-D toy puppets to promote young children's positive responses towards immigrants

Abstract

Previous research indicates that imagining contact with someone who is an immigrant can reduce prejudice and promote positive friendship intentions. Much less is known about the optimal ways of effecting imagined contact. The reported research used an experimental design, where the status of a target-child toy puppet (immigrant versus refugee versus control) and the type of imagined contact (2-D or 3-D figures) was changed. Children aged 4-10 years, were tested for their responses towards immigrants and refugees, before and after a three-minute interactive play session with 2-D or 3-D toy puppet figures. Children were asked to show in the session how they would "have a really good time" with the target-child toy puppet. Measures of children's direct contact with immigrants were also taken. The results suggest that 3-D figures have a similar positive impact as 2-D figures on friendship intentions following imagined play. It was in the 2-D experimental conditions only that children’s friendship intentions were more positive with greater anxiety reduction.